While the patent describes the wrist-worn device, which it calls the iTime, as syncing with an iPhone or tablet, there are also hints that Apple’s vision of the smartwatch as being a device that does not need to be next to another device to work.

The patent says the watch “can be integrally formed with the electronic wristband which provides the additional circuitry”.

So, not only does Apple patent reveal a plan to make a smartwatch, it also reveals a plan to make a smart watchband too which would give it a point of difference over competitors such as Samsung and Motorola who have beaten it to market.

The patent says the watch could be used to make calls and texts without needing to be paired with another device.The blog Apple Insider was the first to spot the patent, which was filed in 2011 and credited to Albert Golko, Mathias Schmidt and Felix Alvarez.

U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeGolko is a iPhone product developer at Apple.

U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeSchmidt worked at Apple on the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano and was awarded seven patents not including this one during his time there.

He left Apple in 2011 and currently works for Nest, the maker of smart thermostats that was recently bought by Google.

Alvarez also has left Apple since this patent was filed and is a product design engineer at Google.

Whether the iWatch that comes out in October resembles this patent or not, only time (or iTime) will tell.

What the patent does show is that Apple has been thinking about a smartwatch for a very long time.